SPORTS UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1994 Kansas hurts Cougars early for victory SECTION B Jayhawks take 35-13 conquest with dominating running game Bv Matt Irwin Kansan sportswriter Sophomore running back June Henley eludes the dive of Houston free safety Dedric Mathis. Henley finished the game with 114 rushing yards. With Henley's contribution, Kansas scored early with three unanswered touchdowns, eventually beating Houston 35-13. Domination could be a word used to describe the way Kansas football teams lost before and during the early years of coach Glen Mason's era. Now the word can be used to describe a Kansas' victory. After the game, Mason said that he wasn't impressed with his team and that neither were his players. "There was a time when, if we won like that, we would come off the field screaming." Mason said. After this game, his players came off the field with some somber looks on their faces. Mason said. "At times, we played well, but there were some things we need to work on." Mason said. In front of 18,150 fans in the Houston Astrodome, the Jayhawks beat an inexperienced team with a second-year head coach. A sparse Cougar crowd, whose team went 1-9-1 in 1993, saw its team fall behind 14-0 after the Jayhawks' first two drives and 21-0 at the end of the first half. On the first drive of the game, the Jayhawks went 80 yards on 10 plays in little more than four minutes. Kansas scored on a four-yard pass to sophomore tight end Jim Moore. The drive's key play was a 23-yard run by sophomore June Henley on third and two from the Houston 28-yard line. Coming out of a timeout, Henley sprung loose on a pitch right, running around senior fullback Chris Powell and Moore. "It started when the tight end got a good block on his man," Henley said. Henley, who had 114 yards rushing on 16 carries, said that he felt his legs were fresh because of Mason's rotation of the running backs. Henley also said the line had a lot to do with it. "Our line is good," Henley said. "We werent clicking like we should have been during camp. Today everybody was clicking." A glimmer of hope appeared when Houston's Jermaine Williams returned the Jayhawks' next kickoff out to the Kansas 43-yard line. The hope was extinguished by the Kansas defense, when senior linebacker Don Davis stopped all three plays. "They ran a couple of plays in a row right at me," Davis said. The Jayhawks followed their first drive with a nine-play, 90-yard drive lasting more than four minutes. Kansas scored on fourth and one from the 4-yard line on a run by junior running back LK. Levine. Kansas was backed up before the drive even started when they received an illegal procedure penalty for five yards. Starting at the five, Henley ran the ball for an 8-yard gain. Then senior quarterback Asheki Preston threw an incomplete pass before throwing a third down pass to senior wide receiver Robert Reed. The 63-yard pass was Preston's career long. The pass was set up by a failed out pattern on the play before. "Yeah, the corner read it," Preston said. "I ran the pump and threw. I made the right read." The only thing that seemed to be going well for the Cougars was their punting. Senior punter Jason Stoff pitched his first kick out-of-bounds at the 10-yard line, and his second, which followed a second failed Houston drive, went out-of-bounds at the 1-yard line. The Jayhawks then went 99 yards on 14 plays in 5.49. Mark Sanders capped the drive with a 4-yard touchdown run. Houston opened up the second half like the Jayhawks opened up the first half. The Cougars marched from their 20-yard line to the Jayhawks' 8-yard line before Kansas stopped Houston on four downs. Mason said that he was pleased with his team's performance — both on offense and defense. GAME STATS "We didn't have good field position all night, and we still found a way to do something with it." Mason said. Kansas Jayhawks "I thought Asheli Preston did a good job," Mason said. "He's not in mid-season form but neither is our offense." Mason said he wasn't totally pleased, though.
RushingAtt.YardsLongTDTeam Statistics
First DownsKickoff returns...
Henley1611423026Kickoff returns...
Levine107235257Possession time...
Sanders124871346Third-down conv...
ReceivingNo.YardsAvg.LongPass Attempts20Sacks (No, Yards) 2-14
Reed37625.363Pass Completions15Penalties...
White44310.7520Yards Passing172Fumbles (No, lost) 1-1
Kansas duo advances in Open By Jenni Carlson Kansan sportswriter The women's doubles tennis team of Nora Koves and Rebecca Jensen triumphed in their first-round match at the U.S. Open in New York City yesterday. Koves and Jensen won in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4 against Karin Kfchweld of Luxembourg and Andrea Strnadova of the Czech Republic. "We just kept fighting and it turned out good." Koves said. The team of Kfchwent and Strnadova was not completely foreign to Koves, who is from Budapest, Hungary. The duo received their invitation to the U.S. Open by winning the NCAA Division I Women's Doubles Championship last spring. The victory marked the first national title Kansas has won in tennis. "I'd seen them a long time ago when Koves and Jensen have been doubles partners for the last two years at Kansas. Koves is returning for her senior season, while Jensen is forgoing her final year of eligibility to play professionally. "It was pretty much packed," Koves said. Rebecca Jensen Nora Koves Koves and Jensen became accus The Koves-Jensen fans included Koves' mother, Jensen's family, Kansas women's tennis coach Chuck Merzbach and Kansas men's tennis coach Michael Center. "It sounded like everybody was cheering for us," she said. "Our opponents didn't have that. We had the plus." I plaved at home," she said. However, knowing the opponents was not the difference in the match. The crowd support the duo received was the telling component, Koves said. tomed to the crowd support in college tennis. However, it is not usually a component of the professional tour, Koves said. "College tennis is a lot better in the sense that a lot of your teammates and a lot of people cheer for you," she said. "But in the professional tournaments everybody just does their own thing." Kansas sophomore Amy Trytke, a teammate of Koves and Jensen last year, said she was not sure how the duo would do at the U.S. Open. In the past, she said they lacked a quick start in their matches, and they would have to avoid that roadblock against professional competition. For being in their first-ever Grand Slam event, Koves said she and Jensen had a good time playing yesterday. Their next match will be tomorrow against Karina Habsudova and Radka Zrubakova at a time yet to be determined. "You have to start out right away strong." Trytek said. "We were not nervous at all," she said. "I don't know what happened." Kansas junior Tracie Walt sets in ball in practice yesterday. The volleyball team opens its season today. Volleyball season to open in difficult tournament By Chesley Dohl Kansan sportwriter New faces and a new coaching philosophy will be put to the test when the Kansas volleyball team opens in the Colorado State Volleyball Tournament A 10 a.m. match against regionally-ranked Northern Arizona State marks the Jayhawks' season opener. Kansas junior outside hitter Jenny Larson said the team was anxious to start its season. "We haven't heard a lot about the other teams yet," said Larson, team co-captain. "that we really know is that they're young but good. We need to go in there ready to play." The Kansas volleyball team follows the same mold as its opponents in this tournament — young but competitive. Kansas starts three freshmen this year. Trisha Lindgren at setter and Maggie Mohrfeld and Leslie Pupkyle at the middle blocker positions. Larson will take the right side of the Kansas court, while sophomore Katie Walsh and junior Tracie Walt, outside hitters, will combine to dominate the left side. "They looked sharp this week," Kansas coach Karen Schonewise said of the players. "They're ready to play. It's time for them to put use all they've been working on in practices. Finally they get to compete." This week in practice, the Jahayhaws devoted practice time to work on their transition game. Larson, Walt and senior outside hitter Janet Uher will be in charge of leading the young team this season. Schonew said. Senior John Colville works on a passing drill during an early morning practice at Shenk Complex. Daron Bennett / KANGAN Rugby club to open against Tigers By Kent Hohlfeld Kansan sportswriter Kansas will start its 64th season of intercollegiate rugby Saturday. The team will battle Missouri at 1 a.m. at the Shenkai Complex on the corner of 23rd and Iowa. Kansas hopes to continue the success it has enjoyed. In the past five years, the team has produced three collegiate All-American rugby players. Each year, 35 All Americans are named out of more than 10,000 collegiate players. This comes in a sport in which most athletes don't pick up the game until they come to college. Rugby draws many former high school athletes who wish to continue competing athletically in college. "Athletes usually take two to three years to pick up the sport and start looking confident," Kansas coach Dominic Barnao said. "In New Zealand they start players very young," he said. "Here, players usually don't start playing seriously until at least high school or college." Barnao, who is from New Zealand and has coached in England, sees a big difference between the players in the United States and those in other countries. Ixexperience may be a problem for a Kansas team that has only two seniors. That fact hasn't diminished the team's goals for this season. "Every season we have the ultimate goal of winning a national championship," said Olin Gotham, a player and the team publicist. "It's a lofty goal, but we're disappointed if we don't achieve it." "The other schools can't seem to meet collegiate eligibility for However, only Kansas, Kansas State and Northeast Missouri State are currently eligible within the union to compete for the collegiate title. The team finished last spring's season second to Northeast Missouri State University with a 5-3 record in the Heart of America Union. The Heart of America Union is a conference made up of six teams. one reason or another," Barnao said. The Heart of America champion advances to the Western Territorial Championships, one step from the national tournament. "The Air Force Academy is usually the strongest team in the West," Barno said. "I think that by this spring we'll be able to compete at that level." The first step in achieving the team's goal will come when Kansas takes on Missouri this weekend. Matt Delargy, the team's captain, said it was important for the team to get off to a good start. "We ended last spring really strongly so we want to continue that," Delargy said.